This collection comprises the second round of the Community Tracking Study (CTS) Household Survey and the second round of the CTS Followback Survey. The CTS, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a national study designed to track changes in the health care system and their effects on care delivery and individuals. Fifty-one metropolitan areas and nine nonmetropolitan areas were randomly selected to form the core of the CTS and to be representative of the nation as a whole. As in t... (more info)

This collection comprises the second round of the Community Tracking Study (CTS) Household Survey and the second round of the CTS Followback Survey. The CTS, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a national study designed to track changes in the health care system and their effects on care delivery and individuals. Fifty-one metropolitan areas and nine nonmetropolitan areas were randomly selected to form the core of the CTS and to be representative of the nation as a whole. As in the first round of the Household Survey (COMMUNITY TRACKING STUDY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, 1996-1997, AND FOLLOWBACK SURVEY, 1997-1998: [UNITED STATES] (ICPSR 2524)), the second round of the Household Survey was administered to households in the 60 CTS sites and to a supplemental national sample of households. Respondents provided information about household composition and demographic characteristics, health insurance coverage, use of health services, unmet health care needs, out-of-pocket expenses for health care, usual source of care, patient trust and satisfaction, last visit to a medical provider, health status and presence of chronic health conditions, risk behaviors and smoking, and employment, earnings, and income. The purpose of the Followback Survey was to obtain detailed information on private health insurance coverage reported in the Household Survey. It was administered to the health plans and other organizations (managed care organizations, third-party administrators, employer or union plans, and employers) that offered or administered the respondents' comprehensive private health insurance policies. Information on private health insurance policies collected by the Followback Survey includes product type, gatekeeping, consumer cost sharing, provider payment methods, and coverage of mental health and/or substance abuse services.

As explained in the technical documentation, some variables are restricted from general dissemination for reasons of confidentiality. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete an Agreement for the Use of Confidential Data, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research. Apply for access to these data through the ICPSR restricted data contract portal, which can be accessed via the study home page.

Methodology

Sample:

Household Survey: In Round One, a sample of households was randomly selected from within the 60 CTS sites. Households were selected using random-digit dialing techniques, plus area probability sampling of housing units to represent households without telephones or with intermittent telephone coverage. The sample drawn from the sites was augmented with an independent supplemental sample, a relatively small, nationally representative sample of households. In Round Two, the site sample was derived by randomly selecting a sample of Round One telephone numbers and adding some randomly selected households with telephone numbers that were not part of the Round One sample. Attempts were made to recontact addresses that were part of the first round non-telephone sample and to contact some new addresses of households without telephones. The supplemental sample comprised some telephone numbers selected in Round One and some new, randomly selected households.

Followback Survey: In Round One, the names of the employers and health insurance plans given by the Household Survey respondents were used to identify the organizations that offered or administered their private health insurance. These organizations were asked to provide information on the private policies covering Household Survey respondents in the 60 CTS sites. Interviews were typically conducted with health plan marketing staff. Round Two introduced the use of secondary sources (health plan Web sites and health plan booklets) to obtain insurance product attributes and changes in the way Household Survey respondents were matched to specific insurance products, such as the introduction of interviews with employers to obtain or confirm correct insurance plan names.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:2001-07-16

Version History:

2008-07-07 Stata setups produced by ICPSR have been added to the collection.